Measurements of 81Kr/Kr in deep groundwater from the Nubian Aquifer (Egypt) were performed by a new laser‐based atom‐counting method. 81Kr ages range from ∼2 × 105 to ∼1 × 106 yr, correlate with 36Cl/Cl ratios, and are consistent with lateral flow of groundwater from a recharge area near the Uweinat Uplift in SW Egypt. Low δ2H values of the 81Kr‐dated groundwater reveal a recurrent Atlantic moisture source during Pleistocene pluvial periods. These results indicate that the 81Kr method for dating old groundwater is robust and such measurements can now be applied to a wide range of hydrologic problems.

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An Atlantic source of precipitation can be inferred from stable isotopic data (H and O) for fossil groundwaters and uranium-series-dated carbonate spring deposits from oases in the Western Desert of Egypt. In the context of available stable isotopic data for fossil groundwaters throughout North Africa, the observed isotopic depletions (δD −72 to −81‰; δ18O −10.6 to −11.5‰) of fossil (≥32,000 yr B.P.) groundwaters from the Nubian aquifer are best explained by progressive condensation of water vapor from paleowesterly wet oceanic air masses that traveled across North Africa and operated at least as far back as 450,000 yr before the present. The values of δ18O (17.1 to 25.9‰) for 45,000- to >450,000-yr-old tufas and vein-filling calcite deposits from the Kharga and Farafra Oases are consistent with deposition from groundwaters having oxygen isotopic compositions similar to those of fossil groundwaters sampled recently at these locations.